Decades ago, being the child of a woman with a university education was the best predictor of a student’s educational success. This advantage was even greater than having a father with the same level of education, particularly in terms of early school dropout rates. However, new research based on data from the PISA report, the international assessment organized by the OECD with 15 and 16-year-old students, reveals that while having a mother with a university degree still provides academic advantages, this advantage is decreasing. In Spain, this superiority has been reduced by more than half in 10 years. This is the first conclusion of a study led by Jose Saturnino Martinez, a Sociology professor, director of the Canarian Educational Assessment Agency, and one of the leading Spanish experts in PISA. This trend is also observed in the OECD, although not as pronounced.
In the 2012 edition of the PISA report, Spanish students with mothers with university degrees scored 522 points in the math exam, 38 points higher than the average score of all students. However, in the 2022 edition, this advantage has decreased by 22 points, resulting in only a 16-point difference. Similar trends have been observed in reading and science scores, where the advantage has also decreased over the years. This reduction has been more pronounced in the 2018 and 2022 editions of the report. In the OECD, the advantage of children with mothers with university degrees has also decreased in the period from 2012 to 2022, but to a lesser extent.
The reasons behind the reduction in the advantage of children with mothers with university degrees may be related to the increasing number of women with university education, the precarious nature of the jobs they hold, especially after the 2008 crisis, and the unequal distribution of household tasks, including educational support for children, between men and women. It is possible that as more women pursue university education, the distinction between university graduates and non-graduates becomes less significant. This may also apply to other family members, such as fathers and grandparents of the student.
The impact of a mother’s education level on a child’s academic success has been consistently shown in various studies. The focus of research led by Martinez has been on this factor, with plans to analyze the effect of fathers’ education levels as well. The prevalence of “homogamy” also plays a role, as individuals tend to partner with others of similar educational levels. The unequal distribution of household responsibilities, particularly related to educational support, may be a contributing factor to the decreasing advantage of children with mothers with university degrees.
The studies conducted during the school closure in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, provided an opportunity to examine the distribution of support for children during this time. It was found that this responsibility largely fell on women, highlighting the impact of women’s professional development on parenting models. The unequal distribution of domestic responsibilities between men and women, particularly in terms of educational support for children, can have consequences on the academic performance of students. This highlights the need for a more equal distribution of household tasks and parenting responsibilities to support children’s educational success.
